Canada’s rental market held its footing in Q3 2026, but the momentum behind rent growth keeps fading. The Yardi Canadian National Multifamily Report for Q3 shows vacancy unchanged at 4.7% and in-place rent growth at its slowest pace since Yardi began tracking rents in 2020.
The robust post-pandemic growth cycle is over, but there is no sign of a demand downturn as tenants largely stay in place. Below are the key takeaways, built from aggregated data covering more than 548,000 units across Canada.
The Canadian rental market in fall 2026: steady, but slowing
Tariff uncertainty, weak job growth and slower population change are weighing on the market without breaking it. Here is where the national averages landed:
- National average in-place rent: $1,790, up $7 in the quarter
- Year-over-year in-place rent growth: 1.7%, the smallest increase since Yardi began tracking rents
- National vacancy rate: 4.7%, unchanged from Q2
- New lease rent growth: -0.2%, improved from -0.6% in Q2 but negative for a third straight quarter
- Annual turnover: 26.4%, up from 26.2% in Q2 and 25.0% a year ago
Vacancy holds as renters stay in place
Vacancy stayed at 4.7% as demand from population growth slowed while fewer tenants moved out into homeownership. Home sales fell 7.7% year over year through September, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association, and the average mortgage rate rose about 40 basis points over the summer.
The spread between markets remains wide. Winnipeg (2.6%), Halifax (2.7%), and Vancouver and Ottawa-Gatineau (both 3.9%) are the tightest. Calgary (5.9%) still has the highest vacancy even after dropping 90 basis points in the quarter, followed by Montreal (5.7%) and Edmonton (5.5%).
Unit type matters too. Bachelor units are the hardest to fill at 7.3% vacancy nationally, while three-bedrooms are the tightest at 4.1%. Two-bedrooms (0.2%) and three-bedrooms (1.2%) were the only unit types with positive new lease growth.
In-place rent growth is at a record low
At 1.7%, national in-place rent growth reflects real affordability pressure and cooling demand. Nearly all of it is coming from renewals, since new lease growth is slightly negative nationally.
Halifax led again with 5.0% growth, followed by Winnipeg (4.1%), Hamilton (2.7%), Montreal (2.4%) and Ottawa-Gatineau (2.1%). Halifax’s strength is tied partly to its naval industry, which is benefiting from Canada’s higher defence spending.
At the other end, Calgary’s rents have dropped for six straight quarters and are down $24 (-1.3%) over the last year, although the declines are shrinking. Vancouver, Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Edmonton and Saskatoon have barely budged, with year-over-year growth between 0.6% and 0.9%.
New lease rents are still negative, but the decline is moderating
New lease rates improved to -0.2% from -0.6% in Q2. Still, only four of the 12 markets Yardi tracks posted positive new lease growth: Halifax (3.6%), Winnipeg (3.0%), Ottawa-Gatineau (1.5%) and Saskatoon (0.4%). Toronto and Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (both -2.1%) saw the steepest declines, followed by Calgary and London (both -1.9%).
Renewals are cooling as well. The national renewal rate is 2.1%, down for 10 straight quarters since peaking at 4.4% in Q1 2024.
New Brunswick joins the report
This quarter’s report adds coverage of New Brunswick, one of the top-performing areas in the country over the last year. In-place rents rose $14 to $1,415, up 2.9% year over year, behind only Nova Scotia (4.6%) and Manitoba (4.0%). New lease growth of 3.7% was the highest among the nine provinces tracked, and vacancy of 2.2% was the lowest.
Turnover is up while expenses come down
Annual turnover rose to 26.4%. Hamilton (17.2%) and Toronto (17.3%) have the lowest turnover, while Saskatoon (39.5%) and Calgary (39.0%) see far more churn. Nationally, residents stay an average of 37 months, up from 36 a year ago. Toronto leads at 50 months and Hamilton posted the biggest jump, to 49 months from 41.
With rent growth slowing, owners are focusing on efficiency. Expenses averaged $8,244 per unit nationally, down 4.3% year over year. Toronto saw the biggest drop, down 7.7% to $9,795 per unit.
Digital conversion is where leasing is won
National digital prospect conversion is 8.0%. London (15.2%), Saskatoon (11.7%) and Winnipeg (11.4%) lead, while Halifax (4.4%) trails despite generating 25 digital prospects per 100 units each month. That gap shows how much follow-up speed and application experience matter. When new lease rents are flat to negative, every qualified lead counts.
How Yardi Breeze Premier helps you respond
A steady market is not an easy one. Rent growth is thin, renewals are doing the heavy lifting, and operators are under pressure to control costs. The providers who do well are those who execute consistently.
Yardi Breeze Premier brings leasing, maintenance, accounting and resident communications into one platform, helping teams respond to prospects faster and keep residents through renewals without adding headcount.
Get CMA-level benchmarks on vacancy, rents, turnover, length of stay and conversion by downloading the latest Canadian National Multifamily Report.
